


eternity

by zenexit



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Aging, Artificial Insemination, Extended Lives, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Radiant Dawn, ike dies or at least its implied i couldnt actually write it, theres a few bg mentions of mist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-19 21:46:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7378525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zenexit/pseuds/zenexit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The day Ike breathed his last, Soren had always sworn to himself, he would follow him. As always, he would follow him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	eternity

**Author's Note:**

> i had this idea and it wouldnt leave me alone no matter how absolutely devastated it makes me feel to think about
> 
> this fic is extremely self-indulgent and. i didnt do any post-editing to it or ask anyone to read through it, so im sorry if you read it and there are some really silly typos or awkward sounding sentences. 
> 
> this all falls along the lines of the canon concept of the slowed aging of the branded. soren's grandfather is still kicking and if we even give soren half of that life-span... well... its a long time. 
> 
> also--- i know i just posted a fe fic about someone dying, im sorry.

“ From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity.” 

-Edvard Munch

 

 

 

It was something neither of them could run away from, something no man could run from. Death. 

 

Tales of death were some of the most common for inspirations of creative work in history. Bards would sing tales of love, triumph and war, but there would always be death riddled in them. Heroes whose journeys were sung about for generations could have goals as simple as protecting their loved ones from it. Or maybe a more self serving one, to live immortal as if he were a god. 

Life was short, it was painful and it was blunt. There are a million ways to live it, a million ways to die, but only one end that met every soul. 

Soren found humanity’s obsession with death to be quite pathetic if he was being blunt. How the inhabitants of this world would all writhe and squirm, fighting to have a few more beats to their heart, how they would all struggle in order to remain breathing for a few more seconds. It was borderline disgusting.

That wasn’t to say Soren didn’t understand why people lived at all, that one was obvious. The body willed itself forward, telling the soul inside how to survive through instincts. It’s both Beorc and Laguz’s simplest desire, to live. To continue on the earth once they were gone, to become immortal. 

Soren knew when he was dead and under the ground, that would be the end of it. He didn’t want to hear about how he would rise again in another life, how he would keep going once he was gone in the hearts of those he loved, or how he should raise a family to carry his legacy for generations to come. To begin with, reincarnation was ridiculous. Strictly speaking on a scientific basis it made no damn sense. The concept of souls themselves was very debatable, and to think that one would simply move to a new host was nonsensical. Soren could count his ‘loved ones’ on one hand, hell one finger even. He did have lives he… cared for. But those were just by association really, nothing more. He accepted they would die, move on to whatever they believed was left for them. Even if the simple reality of it was they would be gone, buried under brown earth. It was simple, easy to accept. No questions needed to be asked, no issues to arise from it. At least, so it would be if Soren wasn’t a branded.

Being a branded meant a lot more than what could be initially assumed. Life span, for one, would be extended. Soren knew his youngest uncle was somewhere over 100 years old, and still looked like he could pass for 16. Soren himself, as much as he loathed to admit it, also knew his own body was slow in the way it progressed. He had looked the same age since he was 17, his small body working fine to carry him through life, it hardly suit his current age of 22. Not that he minded terribly, appearances were only that. It was quite curious to see those around him not feel the same, to watch their bodies grow and mature, to change.

Ike was the highest example of this. From a boy of 17 he had grown, hard work showing in his body. His muscles all increased, gradually the years building. Soren knew he probably looked like his father now, tanned skin gleaming in the sun. His biceps had gone from a size that was already bigger than Soren’s, to something that felt mammoth in nature. No one  minded, a growing boy doing the kind of mercenary work that Ike did, it made sense. Soren found himself appreciative even, that Ike had matured into so nice of man. His broad shoulders and strong back suited him, confidence slowly building and showing through his every pore. A blunt and crass confidence, that came not from social construct, but the belief in himself and his comrades. 

Soren didn’t know when it had happened, how long it had been there for, but he knew he was in love with Ike. Soren knew with every fiber in his body, he would live and die for Ike. Even just the name Ike, saying it and thinking it, Soren could feel warming his insides. He was the man who had saved him, in more ways than one. Both the day he had given him food, and to this very day. There was a love there that had saved Soren. It had kept him physically and mentally going. A purpose, and a savior. Someone who believed in him, could treat him like a real breathing living person. A hero was also something that scholars and poets liked to argue about the true definition of, but Soren knew how clear the real answer was. 

A real hero was both the fluttering red capes and the strong jaw, the calloused hands that could things much more gently than expected. The fierce determination that shone through eyes that kept everyone moving. It was the dedication to seeing a task through, a lawful mindset, and a fierce drive to protect that which was loved. Ike was the definition of a hero, a picture of him might as well be placed in the dictionary and it would solve the entire debate.

Which was why, the day Ike had fallen to his knee, his pants leg digging into the dirt ground of Soren’s tent, had been so shocking. To see this honor of a man clasping Soren’s left hand in calloused large hands that made Soren’s pulse shoot through the roof. Determined blue eyes locked onto Soren’s red, thick eyebrows pulled together in concentration. Heart palpitations increasing along with pores suddenly remembering they were capable of secreting sweat, all of Soren’s bodily functions swung into high gear. It was from there, at sunset Ike had confessed his true feelings to Soren, simple and honest love leaving his lips. Soren had fallen onto his own knees, eyes desperate and hungry, searching Ike for any trace of lie, knowing he would find none. His own words wouldn’t come at first, mouth as dry as when Ike had first given him bread. It was strange, how suddenly his ability to speak was as gone as it had been the first day they had met, where he had no words to give no matter how much he wanted to. Soren rest his head against Ike’s chest, a chest so strong and sure he never would have thought it could belong to a man who would be his. 

Soren and Ike were married as soon as the war was over, a private ceremony that only the two needed to attend. The only other person who was there was the man in charge of reading them quietly the blessings of the goddess. Soren couldn’t stop looking at Ike, eyes darting at him, wondering if there would ever show a moment of hesitation on his features. There wasn’t a single one, eyes filled with happiness, a smile tugging at his lips. And it was in that moment, Soren knew this was the greatest blessing he could have been given in life. By some miracle, this man at his side had chosen to love him, for all of his faults and misgivings, Ike was by his side.

It was later talk of children had come, in furthering the human race further. Soren knew why on an instinctual level so many people partook in the process, but it wasn’t one that ever appealed to him. Rather, it left him so scared he had to firmly grasp his wrists so his shaking would be concealed. He knew, if Ike truly wanted them, he would have them. Soren couldn’t tell him no, couldn’t find the words to say how terrified it made him. To have some freak like himself for a father would be a curse, a never ending nightmare. He would ruin the future life before it could truly even get started. Quiet and private words of encouragement from Ike were the best cure to this fear, even if it never stopped. 

It was a blessing, Soren decided when the baby was born and there was no mark to be found on it. They had chosen to artificially inseminate Mist, using Soren’s own to do the process. Ike had insisted, holding Soren while he wailed out tears into his chest, claiming his child would be the same, marked for ruin. Ike had held him, reassured him, until it all became clear. 

Soren did his best to love the child with as much care as he could but it was then the fear began to truly set in. Not fear that he couldn’t take care of the child, although that was still there, but the aforementioned fear of death that drove so many onward in their lives, in a desperate attempt to fight it. Soren wasn’t afraid for his own, but rather for Ike’s, and his own son. It was watching Ike slowly age in front of him, hair becoming peppered in grey. It was the strangers assuming both Soren and their child were Ike’s children. Ike always laughed, smile showing in his eyes, thinking it funny. Soren couldn’t stand it, they way it twisted at his stomach. He would see the entire world burn, if he could keep Ike safe and alive. It all felt so selfish, but it was something Soren had long known.

The day Ike breathed his last, Soren had always sworn to himself, he would follow him. As always, he would follow him.

More years passed until eventually Soren’s own son stood above his father. Soren always wanted to ask him if he was afraid of death, of the end, but he couldn’t force himself to. It was hard enough to look at Ike and feel that fear, but the creeping realization fell upon him that it would happen to his own flesh and blood as well. His child might not be marked, and that was wonderful, but he also seemed to show no sign of slowed aging. To think, Soren would outlive his own son, made him want to sob until he had no more tears. And he found himself doing it more often by the day, hiding away, hoping he could keep the fear inside himself and away from his family.

It was on one of those days that Ike came to him, be paused for a moment to look at Soren, to take his red eyes swelling around the corners. The way those hands grasped at his own sides, as if he was trying to hold himself together. Ike pulled him into his arms without hesitation and Soren sobbed without reservation into him. Ike quietly soothed him, gently petting his hair. It was painful, and there were little words Soren thought could help him, but remembered very clearly what Ike told him.

“It’s going to be okay, Soren.” Ike’s voice was quiet, but there was an echo to it. Soren had always felt like the entire world stopped to listen when Ike spoke. But maybe, it was just that the world ceased to Soren.

“Everyone dies. You can’t avoid it, even you’re going to die.” Ike pet Soren’s hair gently. “I don’t want you to, it makes me sad to think about… To imagine a world without you, it just doesn’t make any sense.” Soren had gripped Ike’s shirt tighter then.

“But there’s always more after that, people don’t just leave when they die.” Ike stopped for a moment to let out a sudden laugh. “They leave parts of themselves with everyone there. Especially if you have children, you’ll always be alive in them.” Ike tilted Soren’s face up so they could lock eyes. He smiled at him, blue eyes crinkling even more around the corners. There was a focus there, one that was directed towards Soren. A fire in his eyes, Soren could almost laugh thinking that. 

“My father is alive in me, he’s alive in my son, and countless other people.” Ike leaned forward and pressed their foreheads together. “And one day you will die, but I need you to promise me something.”

Soren didn’t let his red eyes leave Ike’s for a moment, drinking in the color, the determination. He needed to make sure he didn’t let this moment be lost on him for even one second.

“You’ll live as long as you can.” Ike’s voice sounded like it was breaking and Soren felt a piece of his heart shatter with it. 

“Don’t die with me. I’ll see you again, and you I. Until then, enjoy our world, our children and their children after that.” Ike smiled and leaned downwards and kissed Soren. Soren could still feel those lips smiling against his own when Ike shortly pulled away. 

“I love you, Soren, I’ll always be waiting for you to come back to me. Please, don’t waste this gift here. Promise me you’ll keep walking onwards without me.” Soren’s eyes flooded with tears again, but he didn’t look away.

“I promise, Ike,” Soren’s voice trembled, “I will try to keep this promise. I-I don’t know that I can, I-”

Ike caught him off, pressing Soren’s lips to his own again, kissing Soren in the hidden spot he had found under the trees. It was a moment Soren would never let go of. Nothing else in the entire world mattered except for this moment together. 


End file.
